ROMNEY ASSAILS OBAMA RESPONSE

White House counters GOP nominee uninformed on events in Egypt, Libya

The state of the economy has been the top issue by far from the beginning of the race, and recent surveys suggest Romney holds a narrowing advantage over the president when it comes to plans for reducing the nation’s unemployment rate.

The situation has long been different on foreign policy. Asked in a Washington Post-ABC News poll last week which candidate was better suited to handle international affairs, registered voters picked Obama by a margin of 51 percent to 38 percent.

The GOP challenger has worked to whittle away at that deficit.

Obama has not ceded any territory. Speeches and video presentations at last week’s Democratic National Convention were heavily stocked with references to the raid the president ordered more than a year ago that resulted in the death of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Romney, on Wednesday, stood by his decision to issue his criticism Tuesday night, at a time it was not yet known that Stevens had been killed. Asked if he would have done so had he been aware of the deaths, he said, “I’m not going to take hypotheticals about what would have been known and so forth.”

On Capitol Hill, where flags were lowered to half-staff, Republicans mostly steered clear of the political criticism that Romney leveled at Obama over foreign policy, focusing on the lives lost in the attacks and imploring the Libyan and Egyptian governments to condemn the incidents and protect American diplomatic missions.

“Among the things we can all agree on in Washington is that attacks on the U.S. and its representatives will be met with resolve, ” he said.

McConnell said Obama “correctly tightened the security overseas.” Asked about Romney’s remarks, he declined to answer.

While Obama initially chose not to respond to Romney, he shed his reluctance later in the day and compared Romney’s reaction unfavorably to the way many other Republicans responded.

“And so I think if you look at how most Republicans have reacted, most elected officials, they reacted responsibly,” Obama said. “Waiting to find out the facts before they talked, making sure that our No. 1 priority is the safety, the security of American personnel. It appears that Gov. Romney didn’t have his facts right.”

Romney’s allies came to his defense, saying he had rightly pointed out shortcomings in Obama’s foreign policy and their ramifications for U.S. security.

But Romney’s account didn’t mesh completely with events in Cairo.

The embassy statement that he referred to as akin to apology was issued by the embassy in Cairo at midday on Tuesday at a time the staff was aware of still-peaceful demonstrations in the area nearby. It was four or five hours later when the mob breached the compound’s walls and tried to burn a U.S. flag.

The embassy statement condemned “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions,” and noted that religious freedom is a cornerstone of American democracy.

Romney added that the White House later “distanced itself” from the statement, saying it hadn’t been cleared by senior officials in Washington. “That reflects the mixed signals they’re sending to the world.”

While top Republican leaders in Congress avoided criticism of Obama, other GOP lawmakers were not as reluctant.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., noted the timing of the events and said, “America has suffered as a result of President Obama’s failure to lead and his failed foreign policy of appeasement and apology.”